A few years ago I was part of this Minneapolis arts ambassador program and I can’t recommend it highly enough. In exchange for a tweet or two you get to attend nine events at a tiny fraction of the ticket price. Look into it, MSP-ers!

YES. Yes. Even though I love travel and it’s a huge part of my life, I don’t think that it’s a requirement for a fulfilling life and I think it’s condescending to assume that someone ‘hasn’t lived’ till they’ve seen the pyramids. (Puke.)Because of how I was raised, where I went to school, and professional luck, I graduated into a class of people who seem to take international travel for granted, as if not going abroad is some kind of hardship. I guess this has always kind of irked for a few reasons. Firstly, the assumption that a lot of travel-privileged have that there is some sort of transcendent experience only they understand because of their travel that non-travelers wouldn’t understand. Yes, travel is educational and expands worldview, but so does meeting new people from diverse backgrounds and exploring neighborhoods outside your own. The assumption that people who don’t travel are somehow small-minded has always driven me nuts.

The second thing that always bothered me about a particular type of snobby world traveler is how classist and condescending they can be. “Oh my god you haven’t been to Paris?!? That’s crazy!” As if Paris was as far away as Bakersfield and as cheap to stay in.

Ahhhhh! Farting is my secret feminist weapon that works every time.Not 10 seconds after my flatulence escaped me, though, a line of noxious odor that can only be described in subway terms as more-gross-than-unbathed-homeless-person and less-gross-than-actual-feces, and crept along to the unassuming nostrils of the privileged man half sitting in my seat.

Faster than the speed of fart, this man sniffled ever so slightly and then shifted over in his seat, removing the part of his thighs and butt that had been crossing the line into my territory.

This is important. A gentler, more compassionate way to talk about suicide.Someone does not “commit” suicide, they die from suicide. This is a much less judgmental, more straightforward way to talk about someone who dies from mental illness. They are not “a suicide” any more than someone who dies from cancer is “a cancer.”

You might also like...

2 Comments

Only in the USofA you have to make a step by step article with scientific numbers to explain why you don’t wear a helmet. It’s dumbfounding to a lot of people outside of your country. It raises two thoughts : 1) Why do they feel the need to justify this individual choice (or it seems anything that someone might find different) 2) you acknowledge the fact the USA have “A” : a car culture (using the car to go almost everywhere, considering 3 hour drives are nothing…) “B” : coupled with a safety culture, “C” plus the need to analyse behaviour (which can be nice for a reader looking for answer for a specific situation, there’s always a blog article somewhere with advice for any given situation). It feels like if you go against “A” & or “B”, you have to counterbalance it with excessive “C”. Which brings us back to thought number 1.
Ah la la.

I do want to say tho, that I really like your blog and just had this comment pop up (that can be perceived as a bit criticizing, but really is just about realizing cultural differences).
I love the cat video. As ALWAYS.

Disclaimer

Actions taken from the hyperlinks on this blog may yield commissions for Yes and Yes. All content copyrighted by Sarah von Bargen. All photos are embedded with links to the original source unless otherwise noted.